Chapter 163: A Truth Too Heavy to Bear

The filming of Ego came to a successful end.

It had been a flawless production from beginning to end—especially the final climax, where Seongjae awakens to the unbearable truth Hyunjeong had tried so desperately to warn him about.

And on the very last day of filming—

Taeha felt something unexpected.

Relief.

A strange, unfamiliar sense of relief he had never experienced before.

This was a first.

Because after every project, there had always been regret.

The lingering feeling that he could have done better.

Could have pushed harder.

Could have delivered more.

And honestly—

Taeha had always believed that regret was necessary.

Regret meant growth.

But this time—

The sense of relief was unusually strong.

Why?

He found himself unable to stop wondering.

Fortunately, the person most likely to have an answer stood right beside him.

Joo Chanseong.

Sure enough, after hearing Taeha’s question, Joo Chanseong answered calmly.

“Maybe it’s because this is the first project where you focused on yourself purely as an actor.”

He smiled faintly.

“To the point where you couldn’t imagine doing any better.”

Taeha fell silent.

Because it made sense.

Normally, even while filming, he could never completely separate himself from being a writer.

That was inevitable.

Half of his responsibility toward any project stemmed from his identity as one.

As a result—

He had never fully immersed himself solely as an actor.

Whenever he wasn’t using his immersion ability, whenever he sat waiting on set—

His writer’s instincts always surfaced.

Which was why he often wandered around the filming location, helping where he could.

Why he subtly influenced performances through his immersion ability.

Why he constantly thought about the work itself.

And what people often forgot was this—

Waiting on set was also part of acting.

The mindset during those empty moments mattered more than people realized.

But until now—

Taeha had spent those moments thinking like a writer.

Not an actor.

However—

Ego had been different.

Even while waiting between shoots, Taeha deliberately suppressed his writer’s side.

He focused solely on becoming Seongjae.

Perfectly embodying him.

And according to Joo Chanseong—

That was exactly why Taeha felt relieved.

Because for the first time—

He had truly done everything he possibly could as an actor.

And succeeded.

Taeha slowly nodded.

He had indeed focused more intensely than ever before.

And the results had been satisfying.

He had achieved a performance even he once doubted he could perfect.

In fact—

The moment Joo Chanseong shouted “Okay!”

A thought had briefly crossed Taeha’s mind.

Even if the movie flops… it’s fine.

That was how fulfilled he felt as an actor.

But now—

Little by little—

Reality began returning.

Especially after understanding why he felt relieved.

His writer’s instincts gradually resurfaced.

And with them—

Responsibility.

Of course the project has to succeed.

Everyone worked too hard for that not to happen.

The moment that thought appeared—

Another followed.

He began recalling weaknesses in Ego from a writer’s perspective.

Things that could have been improved.

Things that still bothered him.

Joo Chanseong, who had quietly been observing Taeha’s expression, chuckled softly.

“It looks like your relief didn’t last very long.”

Taeha let out a bitter smile.

“Yeah.”

He nodded.

“The writer’s regrets and the actor’s responsibility are already coming back.”

As if he had expected exactly that answer, Joo Chanseong simply smiled.

Then he concluded the conversation.

“In that case—”

“I’ll properly handle post-production as the director.”

He folded his arms confidently.

“So leave that part to me.”

Those were the exact words Taeha wanted to hear most.

Because no one understood Ego better than Joo Chanseong.

And honestly—

Taeha was curious.

Curious to see what kind of final masterpiece Joo Chanseong would create through post-production.

***

Even though filming for Ego had ended—

Taeha’s schedule remained overwhelmingly busy.

There was still an enormous backlog of commitments delayed because of filming.

The first major event he attended was the Baek-am Art Awards.

Fortunately—

Byeonghwa, which had achieved the unprecedented feat of winning five Emmy Awards, swept the ceremony.

And when Taeha said “fortunately,” there was a reason for that.

Despite its five Emmy wins, The Pursuit of Perfection had only won three awards at the Baek-am Art Awards.

Grand Prize.

Best Director.

Best Art.

Of course—

That result had been understandable.

During the pandemic boom of global OTT platforms, countless masterpieces had emerged.

At the time, The Pursuit of Perfection had faced over seven major competitors.

Winning three awards alone was already remarkable.

But Byeonghwa was different.

Compared to The Pursuit of Perfection, it faced significantly weaker competition.

And the result—

Was domination.

An overwhelming eight-award sweep.

Grand Prize.

Best Picture.

Best Director.

Best Actor.

Best Actress.

Best Supporting Actor.

Best Screenplay.

Best Art.

At that point—

It wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say the entire Baek-am Art Awards revolved around Byeonghwa.

And more importantly—

No single production had ever won eight awards in the ceremony’s history.

Naturally—

The internet exploded.

• Eight awards is insane;;
• It won five Emmys, so eight awards feels reasonable
• Didn’t it win a little too much?
• Didn’t another drama get heavily criticized for winning four before? lol
• That situation was different. The competition was stronger.
• Yeah, Byeonghwa’s lineup was crazy.
• Honestly, I think the judges did well.
• Same. I hate when they split awards just to be “fair.”
• Better to just reward the best drama of the year lol
• I always thought Best Picture and Grand Prize going to different works felt pretentiousㅋㅋ
• My favorite dramaㅠㅠ Congratulations on eight awardsㅠㅠ
• As expected of Kang Taeha!
• Taeha oppa is insane!!
• Honestly surprised there’s barely any controversy for eight awards lol
• Let’s be real, there weren’t many dramas better than Byeonghwa anyway
• So when is Ego coming out?
• Second half of the year apparently, but no exact date yet
• Anyone know Ego’s genre??
• Look it upㅋㅋ the synopsis is already outㅋㅋ

Though minor controversy briefly surfaced—

The overall reaction remained overwhelmingly positive.

Which was fortunate for Taeha.

The last thing they needed before Ego’s release was public backlash.

In fact—

Byeonghwa’s massive success only increased anticipation for Ego.

After wrapping up the Baek-am Art Awards—

Taeha immediately moved on to filming commercials.

Because of the movie schedule, six advertisements had to be reshot.

Just thinking about it was exhausting.

Yet Taeha handled every shoot professionally.

Compared to the days he had once spent trapped in a tiny gosiwon—

Burning with revenge against Baek Seung-chul while desperately writing stories no one read—

This level of busyness felt like happiness.

Still—

Even Taeha knew he couldn’t sustain such a schedule forever.

As several contracts approached expiration, he decided to reduce the number of endorsements.

His modeling fees had risen dramatically anyway.

Even with fewer contracts—

Profitability wouldn’t suffer.

To organize renewals, Im Chan-hyeong asked him:

“Are there any ads you absolutely want to keep?”

He glanced through his schedule.

“I think renewing only five or six would be best.”

“Hm…”

Taeha thought carefully.

Every advertisement brought back good memories.

Mostly because the companies had genuinely treated him well.

Usually, marketing teams treated celebrity models politely.

After all—

The model heavily influenced the quality and success of a campaign.

Especially for top-tier celebrities like Taeha.

Maintaining a good relationship mattered.

And yet—

Many celebrities abused that position.

Showing up late.

Ignoring staff.

Remaining in waiting rooms without filming.

Treating workers poorly.

But Taeha had never acted like that.

Not even once.

Instead—

Just like on drama and movie sets—

He always arrived first.

Greeting everyone with the loudest voice.

Bright smile.

Friendly attitude.

The kind of person who naturally made others feel comfortable.

Because of that—

The marketing teams treated Taeha even more warmly.

Kindness felt rewarding with him.

Though—

Ironically—

Taeha himself never realized that.

He had never calculated relationships that way.

Still—

Because every memory felt meaningful—

Choosing which contracts to keep wasn’t easy.

After a long pause—

He finally spoke.

“Keep the school violence prevention campaign.”

“Masculum.”

“Nelji.”

“KS.”

“Nike.”

“And Prada.”

As a result—

Contracts with Overte, C-Jes, Seonyang, NETSIM, Maschleren, and McDonald’s entered termination procedures.

It felt regrettable.

Many had desperately wanted renewals.

But it couldn’t be helped.

For Taeha’s work-life balance—

Reducing endorsements was necessary.

Even so—

The contracts didn’t end immediately.

Meaning Taeha remained busy while waiting for Ego’s final edited version.

***

That was when it happened.

For the first time in a while—

Taeha was resting.

After finishing commercial shoots, he spent his free time casually discussing ideas for Prequel’s next album with the members.

Inside the studio—

Following an intense practice session—

Everyone briefly relaxed.

Then suddenly—

Alex, who had been scrolling through his phone—

Shot up from his seat.

“W-What is this?!”

His voice sounded almost like a scream.

Naturally—

Everyone turned to look at him.

Taeha, who had been quietly drinking a beverage, slowly turned his head as well.

Their eyes met.

Alex walked toward him with a stunned expression.

Without saying anything—

He held out his phone.

“Taeha.”

His voice sounded tense.

“Take a look at this.”

Taeha accepted the phone.

And the moment he looked at the screen—

His eyes widened.

Because displayed there—

Was a post with an unbelievably provocative title.

[I’m Going to Expose Kang Taeha’s True Personality (Former Artworks Marketing Team Employee)]